— The arrest happened in January; police said case has not yet been filed to District Attorney’s Office
By Rick Hurd
An employee with the Diocese of Oakland was removed after Walnut Creek police arrested him on suspicion of possessing and sharing child pornography, authorities and church officials said this week.
Walnut Creek police Lt. Holley Connors confirmed Tuesday that the arrest happened in January. Police have not presented their case yet to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
“We are still reviewing evidence, and that could take a little while with all the digital evidence,” Connors said Tuesday. “It could be a week. It could be a month. We have no ETA for when it will happen.”
The worker had been with the diocese since June 14, 2021, working primarily with preparations and planning for liturgies at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, located in the 2100 block of Harrison Street, Diocese spokeswoman Helen Osman said in an email.
She said he has not worked at the cathedral since the first week of January and is no longer employed by any parish or school within the Diocese.
“In reviewing this situation, we have not discovered any potential criminal conduct by (the suspect) in the course of his employment, or occurring on cathedral property, utilizing its property, or involving parishioners, including minors,” Osman said via email. “No arrests occurred on cathedral property, and the Diocese of Oakland, which oversees the cathedral, has cooperated with law enforcement.”
According to Osman, the suspect’s work included coordination of weddings and funerals, as well as working with California docents, all of whom are all adult volunteers. He also worked with the altars servers program, which is almost exclusively adults, Osman said.
Police did not release any more information about the arrest. Connors declined additional comment, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.
On Tuesday, leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests issued a statement saying they were “appalled” at the Diocese’s handling of the man’s arrest, given that “as far as we can determine, no outreach was done in the community or with the public in the ensuing 2 months.”
Instead, church leaders should have been more transparent and forthcoming about the man’s arrest, said Joey Piscitelli, a Northern California leader of the group, also known as SNAP, in an interview with the Bay Area News Group.
“It’s extremely alarming,” Piscitelli said. “Immediately, the Diocese did not reach out. It should have happened immediately, so that people could at the very least check with their kids and the community. But nobody was given that opportunity.”
Osman said in an email that Diocese leaders did not immediately share information with the congregation about the man’s arrest because “it was not prudent to make any public announcement that might risk interfering with an ongoing investigation.”
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